MOSCOW, Jun 15 (PRIME) -- Recoverable reserves of oil of Russian oil company Surgutneftegas increased by 74.4 million tonnes in 2017 under the A, B1, and C1 categories, the company said in a statement on Friday.

The company’s oil output fell 2.1% on the year to 60.5 million tonnes in 2017 due to the oil output reduction deal of OPEC and non-OPEC states and a slowdown of production at brown fields in West Siberia.

The 2013–2017 oil reserves of the company grew by 368.8 million tonnes, overshooting oil output for the period by more than 20%, Surgutneftegas said.

Natural gas production of the company amounted to 10 billion cubic meters in 2017.

Surgutneftegas plans to launch oil production at four new fields of the Uvat and Rogozhnikov group of fields over the next three years, down from the five fields launched in 2017. Expected oil production of the two group of fields amount to about 5–6 million tonnes per year in the mid-term, the company said.

The company also said in an annual report that refining fell 1.9% on the year to 18.2 million tonnes in 2017 due to optimization of production, with the oil products output amounting to 17.7 million tonnes and the output of light oil products rising 1.4%. In 2018, Surgutneftegas plans to keep oil refining flat at 18.2 million tonnes.

The company’s gas processing may stand at about 5.8 billion cubic meters in 2018, with dry gas output of 5.4 billion cubic meters and liquid hydrocarbons production of 598,000 tonnes.

“Combined investment in development of refining capacities of the company is expected at 7.5 billion rubles, with the majority of the funds allocated on the oil refining sector,” Surgutneftegas said.